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England’s Six Nations hopes have received a massive boost with the news that Owen Farrell is expected to resume club action in late January.
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And head coach Eddie Jones’ prospects of lifting the title have been further enhanced by upbeat fitness updates regarding experienced British & Irish Lions pair Manu Tuilagi and Jamie George.
The three England stars all suffered Autumn Series injuries serious enough to cast doubt on their availability for their country’s opener against Scotland at Murrayfield on February 5th.
After leaving the field during England’s mid-November win over Australia with an ankle injury Farrell was initially reported to face “at least two months” on the sidelines.
But Saracens’ director of rugby Mark McCall has this week provided a promising update on the fly-half’s condition which advised: “Owen is a few weeks away. He will be back towards the end of January – it should be before the Six Nations.”
Powerhouse centre Tuilagi is also now reported to be ready for a January return.
The former Leicester star lasted just eight minutes of his country’s 27-26 triumph against South Africa before suffering a grade three hamstring tear which was initially expected to rule him out of the Six Nations.
In delivering this positive update, his Sale Sharks boss Alex Sanderson said: “We have talked about him for the Leicester game before the Six Nations [on January 30].
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“That is obviously a big game for him, but we’re hoping to get him back a week or two before that.”
These two developments will again set the debate regarding the composition of England’s midfield raging since Farrell and Tuilagi face competition from Exeter’s Henry Slade and Harlequins’ in-form Marcus Smith whose club mate Joe Marchant also impressed during the Autumn Series.
The Daily Mail has also reported that hooker George has recovered from his knee injury and is set to resume Gallagher Premiership action when Sarries make the short trip up the M1 to face Northampton on Sunday.
Given the impact made by Leicester’s Nic Dolly and Newcastle hooker Jamie Blamire – who now has six tries from five tests – during the Autumn Series, 31-year-old George will be especially keen to make an impact for his club ahead of Jones’ squad announcement.
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George was initially left out of Jones’ Autumn squad and only returned after Exeter Chiefs star Luke Cowan-Dickie – who also edged ahead of him on the Lions tour last summer – was deemed unfit to feature.
Comments on RugbyPass
ABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
1 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
3 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
3 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
2 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to commentsTruely great player. In social media and opinion pieces he was held up and flogged for the results. People wanted someone to crucify, and he was the captain. He was still an immense presence respected by his peers. His battles with Siya Kolisi belong up with with Collins vs Burger in my opinion. Unlucky to be carded in the final, but I don’t agree that his red card was the defining moment. Not when you look at the dominant performances of the Springboks (PSDT in particular.) I think Cane should be remembered for the spirit and physicality that is special to test rugby.
16 Go to commentsSam was the man until he got injured .
16 Go to comments_Crusaders versus Leinster _at the moment might be a rout! But I would like to see the Blues play Toulouse, the Hurricanes front up against Stade Francais, and the Chiefs go against Toulon.
157 Go to commentsLove it when we overlap! Promise it was not forethought.
19 Go to commentsjfc can this guy plz stay out of the news for one week
2 Go to commentsIf stormers aren’t available. Based on form and likely availability at the time of the wales Test, you’d think Masuku would be a no-brainer to start. But starting Jordan also makes sense having Masuku come off the bench to close out the game.
2 Go to commentsGlad Tom Curry not playing needs time to recover such a great player also his brother Ben how well is he playing now .
1 Go to commentsLet’s examine what might be irking the brainless E: Up until 20 years before this coming Julys tests: 16 games: 14 wins for SA; 1 win for Ire; 1 draw From 20 years until July’ tests Ireland V SA: 13 matches Ireland won 8; SA won 4; 1 draw Points scored Ireland 261; SA 189 Ave Winning Margin: Ireland 11 points; SA 4 points (away 3, home 6) Away win record: Ireland 33.33%; SA 25% Neutral matches 1: Ireland win RWC France 2023. Last SA win June 2016 (8 years ago) They boast 3 World cups in that period (they do boast). The above record is not good, probably not much better than theirs against NZ for same period. That’s why the dopey E is starting fights in his head. He will probably ship a yellow when things don’t go their way in the first test.
127 Go to commentsGoode is like a wet fart on The Rugby Pod and should be shoved aside. Jim knows what he is on about and can get on better without Goode’s nasty little cheap shots.
127 Go to commentsBrumbies will win, crusaders are pretty awful this year
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